Penn State's White Out Returns to Primetime Thanks to Oregon

The TV Draft

Unbeknownst to many fans, the major TV networks hold a draft to pick what games or a week with the first choice of games each will show in the coming year. The networks treat it just like NFL teams, with countless hours going into researching the biggest games in each conference scheduled to the transfer portal. Networks try to grab the biggest game each week while trying to avoid going against top games in another conferences.

The Big Ten guidelines put in place are simple. When weeks 1-3 games are selected, and teams and times are set. For week four and beyond, the network can choose a week or game. If selecting a week a network has 6-12 days before kickoff to announce the game and time.

FOX being the major shareholder owns the first three picks of the draft each year and have five of the first 11 picks. NBC and CBS switch the fourth pick year-to-year with each holding three picks in the first 11. Networks also have the choice to trade picks. Considering the Big Ten is going to be the first conference to make over a billion dollars on TV rights in 2025, it's imperative the executives get their picks right.

The Big Two and Everyone Else

FOX controls the draft having the first three picks and it's no surprise Ohio State and Michigan are their main targets. Ohio State vs. Michigan is one of the most viewed games in college football and a top three pick every year. Last season FOX picked the week two Texas at Michigan matchup. This year it’s Texas at Ohio State in week one. FOX elected to leave Oregon at Penn State on the board and instead grab the week of Nov. 1 with one of their top three picks. Penn State at Ohio State is scheduled for that week and all signs point to that game taking the Big Noon timeslot.

In 2024 FOX put the Ohio State at Penn State game at noon forcing the Nittany Lions to put Washington in the White Out game a week later. In 2023 it was the Michigan at Penn State matchup that featured two top teams that should have been the White Out, but thanks to FOX, Iowa took Michigan's spot in the game. In 2022 it was again Ohio State missing the White Out, with Minnesota taking their spot instead.

Penn State won all three of those White Out games in blowout fashion. The closest game was against Minnesota in 2022, 45-17. The complete opposite took place at noon, however, with Penn State losing all three games. In 2022, they lost 44-31, and in 2024, lost to Ohio State 2013. In 2023 they lost 24-15 to Michigan, who was missing their head football coach. In hindsight, the argument can be made that if those three games where the White Out, Penn State wins one or two of those games.

Viewership Numbers

According to the medium.com Ohio State dominated the Big Ten in viewership during the regular season in 2024, averaging 5.16 million a game. Michigan was second, despite the down year, averaging 4.01 million viewers. Ohio State and Michigan were the only Big Ten Schools in the top 10.

Nebraska was the next Big Ten team on the list at 13, averaging 2.469 million viewers, followed by Oregon at 14 with 2.466M viewers and Penn State at 15 with 2.457M viewers. It's easy to see why Michigan and Ohio State are the focus of FOX’s first three picks of the draft.

In games that averaged the most viewers, Ohio State again led the Big Ten playing in four of the top 25 most-viewed games. Michigan was in the second game having played in three followed by USC at two. Penn State Oregon and Indiana all played in one regular season game ranked in the top 25, all three of those games came against Ohio State. Michigan at Ohio State was the most watched regular season Big Ten game averaging 12.30 million viewers, despite Ohio State entering the game as a 23-point favorite.

Penn State finally gets the White Out game they wanted. Moving forward, the White Out should be Penn State's toughest home game at night every year. But what should happen and what will, unfortunately, don’t usually line up in college football.